warm water

[Elizabeth R]

what about salte water?.

[rosemary johnson]

The undesirability of warm water depends on your water system.
The old idea of not using water froom the hot tap for anythign to do with eyes, nor with food for that matter, was the increased chance that the hot water system in old houses used lead piping and you could thus be building up small quantities of lead aevery time. Whereas the cold water rising main pipes were more likely to be newer copper pipes. This is, frakly, likely to be out of date in most houses with more recent plumbing.
However, if your house still has the system of a reservoir tank in the roof, feeding a copper cylinder heated by central heating or an immersion heater, you'll still have the problem of water hanging round possibly getting dusty,e tc, in the roof tank, then sitting round warm in the copper cylinder for ages where bugs could breed.
If you have a more modern "constant hot water" system fed from the rising main neither of these will apply, and hot water is less likely to be unhealthy, particularly if you regularly run out the bit that's ben sitting int he boiler since you turned the tap off last, and the boiler is in good condition, etc.

As regards contact lenses - depends on type. SOFT lenses, or the soft parts of combinaiton hard/soft lenses, should never have anything on them but fluids made for SOFT lenses only.
for hard ones - RGP, PMMA or glass, not that many people have glass contacts these days......

Well, I clean mine and wash off the cleaner and the cleanings under the tap = cold water, off rsing main.
Also I apply wetting solution, rinse off under the rising main cold tap, then rinse off the water with saline.
I've had two eye infections in my life ever - one when I was 6 and had measles, and one about 10 years ago when I had pneumonia and was very ill indeed.
Maybe I'm lucky.
Rosemary

[Andrew MacLean]

That depends on what sort of lens you wear. An RGP would probably jut float off your eye and be lost in the ocean. I am not sure about other lenses, but suggest you check with your optometrist.

Also, it may be that the microbes native to the sea would not be conducive to healthy eyes for someone who already has KC

Andrew

[Christine Wallis]

I always wear goggles !!

[GarethB]

Andrew is quite right regarding taps; water is treated and pases micro tests but is far from sterile like lens solutions. Plus as soon as the water runs out the tap coverd in microbes they get transfered to your lens.

Washing hands in anti-bacterial saop negates this. This is why Rosemary finds washing up liquid fine, although I disagree on past threads Rosemarry and I have agreed to disagree

Using realy hot water apart from the scold risk, the sudden expansion of the steeply curved lens surface will cause it to crack!

Best thing is to have saline to hand, does not need to be cold or the wetting agent for lenses which is also a disinfectant.

Apart from risk of loosing a lens if you swim while wearing it, microbes in the water can get trapped under the lens and not washed away out of the eye like and eye lens free.

I wear a swim mask when I have lenses in and that is fine. In my backpack is always a travel set of lens solutions and a small bottle saline for emergencies.

[Elizabeth R]

what about steam room?.

[rosemary johnson]

Gareth wrote, into alia:

Washing hands in anti-bacterial saop negates this. This is why Rosemary finds washing up liquid fine, although I disagree on past threads Rosemarry and I have agreed to disagree
RFJ writes: nope, not quite! I don't use anti-bacterial soap and wouldn't - it ttends to kill off all the beneficial bactteria tha live onthe skin and keep the more harmful sort in check. SO if you use anti-bacterial soap/chadnwash regularly, you tend to get MORE infections and sore skin, because the nasties can get hold because the nice bugs aren't there. I hasten to assure yous all, I don't wash my hands in fairy liquid either - onl ymy (RGP scleral) lenses. Which seems to work fine and clean alny grease and grime off fine. The bottle does say it's anti-bacterial, but that's not why I use it - it's because it's a detergent and cuts through the crud. Must work quite well, because if I try to apply wetting solution before washing the lens, its doesn't, and way to get lens to wet properly s to wash it properly.
Using realy hot water apart from the scold risk, the sudden expansion of the steeply curved lens surface will cause it to crack!
RFJ: and burn your fingers......!





As regards swimming: I have swum in the sea with my lenses in. But they are sclerals, so not likely to fall out.
or wash out.
Also, I'm one of those people who swimming instrcutrs would tut tut about endlessly - in that I swim a very slow breast stroke with my head sticking out of the water all the time.
I know people who go windsurfing complain about getting lots of infections what the gunk inthe sea these days. Been lucky meself, maybe, but personally would be more worried about getting sand in my eye/lens and abrasion injuries.
Have also been in both steam room and saunas with lenses in. They can dry out a bit in a sauna. Never had a serious problem, though the heat normally gstarts getting to y asthmatic lungs lung before the eyes get to be a problem.
You might like to be careful of the drench-bucket cold showers, though.
Rosemary

[Louise Pembroke]

I would never use tap water, always saline for rinsing lenses. Use ordinary hand wash for my hands

[Elizabeth R]

maybe i need to think about change my lans so i can go swim.no way i am go swim with out them.

[Louise Pembroke]

wear goggles